Anchoring describes how your audience uses context clues to help make decisions when they don’t know how much time or money they should invest in something. Shoppers judge the value of any given item by comparing it to other similar models in the market, and more often than not, they end up choosing a middle ground. Your ecommerce site can take advantage of this tendency by offering an “extreme” at the top end of your options; for example, pricing three similar products at $10, $20, and $50.

Social Herding

We prefer to think of ourselves as complete individuals who are capable of making their own decisions without any influence from others. Instead, people are far more likely to follow their peers (hence the phrase “peer pressure”), especially when they believe their peers have similar beliefs and values. Incorporate social herding into your website by creating a sense of community on your website. For example, add a line to your email subscription form that says “Join 21,000 others and subscribe today!”

Tyranny of Choice

Typically, we think that we prefer having more choices, but in fact, having too many choices can “paralyze” shoppers and prevent them from making purchasing decisions. Having too many options can clutter your conversion path, confusing and intimidating customers. Instead, keep your landing pages incredibly simple so that your customers know what action you want them to take next.

Defaults

People prefer not to agonize over every decision, especially when they’re small ones. Make it easy for your customers to make the choice you want them to make by allowing them to opt-out of certain decisions rather than opt-in.

Kristen Geil

Kristen Geil is a Digital Content Writer/Blogger at Digital Third Coast, a SEO company in Chicago. Connect with Kristen on LinkedIn and Google+. Connect with Digital Third Coast on Google+.